Is College Worth the Student Debt? A Review of the Literature

Abstract

This paper explores three published articles that report on results from research conducted on online (internet) and offline (non-internet) relations regarding the topic of college debt. The articles differ in the idea of how acquiring student loan debt can affect an individual, whether it causes positive or negative outcomes. In addition to the effects student loans carry, the articles also provide data displaying an average on how much a typical student receiving a bachelor’s degree will be left with including a percentage of how many students take out student loans. “Is College Worth the Student Debt? A Literature Review”, includes my personal experiences with student loan debt, how it has come to affect my life in the present and how it will affect my life following my graduation from college.

 

 

Is College Worth the Student Debt? A Review of the Literature

            As I sat at my desk surrounded by peace and quiet, I began shuffling through the pile of scholarships my guidance counselor and parents had offered me. I was immediately stumped by numerous puzzling questions. Where do I even start? Do I confess how much financial support I need to attend college? Filling out the endless amount of scholarships was just the tip of the iceberg that leads me to the idea of student loans and unfortunately the idea of debt.  

College can be rewarding in regards to a stable career and financial support for the future. Although college can be beneficial, in many cases it can be incredibly expensive and virtually an overwhelming process. For many students, after graduating from college they may feel accomplished for receiving a degree that they had worked hard for. The degree not only represents the challenges each student faced academically, but it also represents the accumulation of student loans. Graduates are faced with not only being challenged to find a reliable job after graduating but they also carry along cinderblocks of stress accumulated from student loans on their backs.   

Is Borrowing Money the Right Choice?

Students entering college often find it difficult to make decisions about how they will pay for school. Every financial situation is different for each student. Taking out a loan is a typical path that many often find themselves leaning towards. In the article “A Lifetime of Student Debt? Not Likely?” Wilson claims that, “Forbes magazine published an article . . . which said that the decision to borrow to attend college often amounts to a “financial disaster” (2009). Receiving a degree does not guarantee finding a job after graduating from college. While students receive their bill for thousands of dollars in debt, they also have the stress of finding a stable job to pay off the loans.

Student loan debt is a growing problem. In the article “Occupying the Future by Rejecting the Burden of Student Loan Debt” (2011), Philip Mattera states that “during the past two decades, student debt has skyrocketed”. College students are feeling pressured to take out student loans to cover their college expenses and the government is doing very little to help them. The economic situation has seized to improve over the years. But students are becoming more determined to take control of their future. 

 

                                          The Burden of Student Loans

Acquiring a college degree is more rewarding than relying on a high school degree. There are more job opportunities and a higher financial status. The earnings of high school to the earnings of college degrees have been increasing and are at or near record levels (Glassner, Shapiro 2012).  “The typical recipient of a bachelor’s degree now owes $22,000 upon graduation” (Mattera, 2011, p. 1). Having $22,000 in debt can cause a lot of stress and burden on an individual. For a student just graduating from college, having excessive debt can take a long time to pay off. Many students only look to student loans and attend colleges that are completely out of their financial range. It is quite the risk to rack up thousands of dollars and then spend years after trying to pay it all off. A lot of students have high expectations of their career status causing “about 8 percent of undergraduates [to] borrow at least double the national average”. (Wilson, 2009, p. 257). Students find the need to borrow excessive amounts of money because:

More often, the problem among students who go heavily into debt is that they determined to attend their dream college, no matter the cost. “People don’t pay attention to the debt”, says Mark Kantrowitz . . . “They want to be able to pay for the school they have wanted to go to for as long as they can remember, and they are willing to do whatever it takes”.

Students often put aside reality so that they can live through their dreams. They forget that living expenses, tuition, and fees all add up over time. While some graduates are paying the average $20,000 loan, others find themselves struggling to pay for $40,000 loans. Some loan borrows become so overwhelmed by their payment that they have to postpone them for years by using repayments through the federal loan program.

My Experience with College Debt

Entering college I never felt the need to take out any loans. Frankly, I was against taking out any student loans if they were not deemed necessary. My logic was that if I cannot afford to attend college now, then paying for it later probably will not be any different. Instead of living in a dorm and spending more money than necessary, I live at home and commute to class. Going to college whether it be taking out loans or paying it off upfront, it is still expensive. Both of my parents agreed that it would be more practical for me to live at home and they would help me financially the best that they can. When I graduate I will only have my student loans from the financial aid that was given to me. This will equal somewhere around ten-thousand dollars, an amount that is a lot less than most students have to pay.

Commuting to school does become stressful at times. Having to wake up an extra hour early in the morning and waiting for my car to heat up can be annoying. But, in the long run it is all worth it. Working as many hours as I can get at Old Navy and trying to make time to do school work can become very overwhelming. In the end, it is completely worth it to put in a lot of hard work now so that I will hopefully reduce the financial stress for my future.

 

Conclusion

The articles give different information about the effect college debt has on students. The severity of debt can differ between each individual. When choosing a college take time to decide how much of a financial burden the college will put on you. In my opinion, I feel that saving money is the most important thing to do when going to college. It is illogical to depend on a degree to get a stable job after graduating and it can be quite risky. By limiting the amount of debt, there will be less stress in the future.

 

References

Glassner, B. Schapiro, M. (2012, July 03). Give colleges more credit. Los Angeles Times.

            Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/

Mattera, P. (2011). Occupying the future by rejecting the burden of student loan debt. Social        

            Policy, 41(4), 82. Retrieved from the Academic Search Premier database.

Wilson, R. (2009). A lifetime of student debt? Not likely. In G. Graff, C. Birkenstein, & R.

            Durst (Eds.), They say/I say: The moves that matter in academic writing with readings. (pp. 256-274). New York, NY: W.W Norton & Company